What Ministers do

Ministers look at issues from many points of view – and your own
information and opinion can help them help you and others. A letter or
email is a sensible way for members of the public to communicate with
New Zealand Cabinet Ministers. Ministers expect to reply, helped by their
staff.

Ministers expect to hear from people in their electorate, from their
departmental chief executives, policy advisers, Ministers in Cabinet and
its Cabinet committees, backbenchers in their caucus, lobby groups, media,
coalition partners, Ministers in other governments and sections of the
public of interest to them.

New Zealand Cabinet Ministers are all Members of Parliament. In the
US, cabinet members do not have that additional responsibility. Ministers
normally have very full workloads. They are under pressure to make many
decisions, and to represent interests both as Ministers and as Members
of Parliament. Working days from 7am to 10pm are not uncommon. The Ministerial
Services agency provides the infrastructure (from finance to staff) to
help make these workloads possible.

Ministers are also Cabinet’s eyes and ears about trends in the
community. The impressions they get from voters might stimulate questions
about advice given by official advisors. Some Ministers place weight on
gaining access to independent sources of advice, and may even set up arrangements
for contesting traditional channels of advice.

Whole-of-government perspective

Many Ministers are responsible for more than one portfolio. Some are
associate Ministers, working with other Ministers on portfolio responsibilities.
Ministers also work together over a range of portfolios to achieve a broad
approach on issues. They may be addressing a new issue that requires a
different approach by government.

There are portfolios that naturally cut across others. The Prime Minister
and the Finance Minister need to take a whole-of-government view. Ministers
such as those responsible for foreign affairs and trade, government shareholding,
regional development, transport and particular population groups, need
to be familiar with the portfolios of other Ministers and address special
interests across the whole of government.

Increasingly, Ministers are directly employing policy advisors to give
them an independent whole-of-government perspective, rather than relying
on departmental advisors, whose perspective may be limited by historical
perspectives or departmental brief.

Examples - ministers and strategies

In the 2002 edition of DecisionMaker Guide we gave the challenge the Minister
of Disability Issues faced with the NZ Disability Strategy to illustrate
what ministers do - and the example remains valid.

Revitalising Japan New Zealand relations

This time we invite attention to the initiatives of the Prime Ministers
of Japan and New Zealand to develop a new level of engagement between
their countries - accentuating particular sectors of endeavour which fall
under a range of ministers. They offer opportunities both to ministers
and non-governmantal interests, illustrating as has been the case for
years, that key issues in the Japan New Zealand relationship are key issues
in New Zealand's national development. The big ticket items are trade
in goods and services. People to people links can help develop the potential
in some of those items - as tourism and education illustrate.

Air New Zealand has launched a programme to promote exchanges with Japan
– a practical step in efforts to “revitalize” the Japan
New Zealand relationship.

The call to “Visit Japan”, launched a few years ago by then
newly re-elected Prime Minister Koizumi, and given a local push over the
last few years by Japan’s representative in Wellington, Ambassador
Saito, is a stimulant to closer educational contact.

As Foreign Minister Winston Peters says, the relationship is important,
should be be underrated, and should be worked on - a post-election comment
that eviences ministers will work to follow up the June 2005 joint statement
from Prime Ministers Clark and Koizumi for the two governments to “take
a forward looking and fresh look at the present bilateral economic relationship
and consider ways to strengthen it”.

Ambassador Saito has made it clear he wants “revitalization”,
and Prime Ministers Clark and Koizumi said they wanted more to happen
in six areas when they met in 2005, and in 2002. The “new level
of engagement” they sought include tourism, education, people to
people relations and trade and investment facilitation. These all stand
to gain from the parallel initiatives of the airline, the Japanese Ambassador
and others to encourage Kiwis to visit Japan.

Education is an action area for revitalising the Japan New Zealand relationship
said Maarten Wevers, head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet,
after his visit to Japan with Helen Clark. She picked out education for
emphasis because, as Japanese speaking Wevers, former NZ Ambassador to
Japan says, Japan has a strong base for building education and people
to people relationships. “NZ has a good brand name” he says.

The foundation for the education ties have been laid over the last three
or four decades, and open the way for individual educational institutions
to build their own ties says Wevers.

There are pockets of interest in visits to and from Japan – and
the relationships that then grow further. Cooperation between research
and development specialists, supporting New Zealand’s growth and
innovation strategy, was boosted by the 2005 agreement between NZ’s
Ministry of Research, Science and Technology and the Japan Society for
the Promotion of Science. The PMs plan also to promote dialogue between
academics and researchers on appropriate issues, as well as to strengthen
high-level exchanges.

But it is the people interested in school and other special interest
connections who might step up visits to Japan – and build on connections
that lead to deeper educational contact, and to sustainable two way tourism.

Air New Zealand targets key schools that include Japanese studies in
their curriculum, offering special fares and support material designed
to foster the concept of cultural exchanges.

The airline has also helped show people in and out of education that
visits to Japan can be affordable - by announcing single person return
airfares with twin share accommodation for four nights in Tokyo for under
$2000. The Embassy of Japan is also able to show enquirers ways they can
visit Japan affordably – and old Japan hands and the internet can
help people find out more about cost busting.
The Visit Japan thrust could have more impact if effective cooperative
was built with New Zealand by the Sydney based office of the Japan National
Tourism Organisation (JNTO), New Zealand travel industry sources say.
JNTO could tie in destination brand advertising to raise awareness of
Japan and Japanese culture and to create demand, its visiting journalist
program could support destination brand advertising, and consumer and
travel trade support could be expanded using 0800 phone, internet and
brochures, trade shows and educational trips as key support tools.

Japan is now the third largest international route for Air New Zealand
behind Australia and the USA. Air New Zealand operates up to 17 services
per week to Japan and is expecting capacity increases of 36% on selected
routes (Osaka/Nagoya) when the 767 fleet servicing these destinations
is eventually replaced with 777 aircraft.

Disability issues

Consider again the NZ Disability Strategy as an example of what ministers
do. Ruth Dyson, the first New Zealand Minister for Disability Issues –
and her Office for Disability Issues established in July 2002 –
uses the New Zealand Disability Strategy (NZDS) as a tool for assessing
the effectiveness of other agencies. Each department and/or agency is
required to prepare an implementation plan and then report on progress.
This progress is presented in a formal annual report to Parliament.

As a Minister in Cabinet, she is able to check whether all policies
have taken account of disability issues and also to advocate for specific
issues with her colleagues.

The planning and implementation process ensures that departments incorporate
the NZDS into their budgets and broader work plans. Government agencies
often start to prepare these budgets and work plans six to eight months
before the financial year, which begins on 1st July.

Engage proactively

Prime Minister Helen Clark strongly encourages organisations and individuals
outside central government to be involved with the implementation of the
NZDS. Disability sector organisations can take the opportunity presented
by the NZDS to proactively engage with relevant government agencies to
make them aware of important issues.

Of course, participating in formal consultation processes continues
to be an important way for organisations and individuals to be involved
in the implementation of the NZDS.

Government departments are increasingly drawing on the expertise of
people with disabilities and disability organisations in their work.

By Anthony Haas, a former New Zealand foreign correspondent in Japan,
who would down his work there to manage his visual disability.

Find out more!

See the Cabinet Manual
for more information on the roles and responsibilities of Ministers of
the Crown.

Updated 10 February 2006

Prime Minister Helen Clark with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
in 2005 - when they agreed again to strengthen a new level of engagement
between their countries through people to people and other relationships